As is now typically customary, computers are used with a pointing device, such as a mouse, trackball or touch pad. The pointing device typically permits a user of the computer to control a pointer on the screen, in conjunction with a windows-oriented operating environment such as Microsoft Windows 95. For example, if the user moves the mouse to the left, the pointer correspondingly moves to the left on the screen.
Most pointing devices also usually include at least two switching mechanisms, typically including buttons. These buttons permit the user of the computer to signify to the computer to perform various functions. For example, in the case of Microsoft Windows 95, clicking the left mouse button over a window activates that window. Usually, however, only one of the mouse buttons is the primary button, typically but not always the left mouse button. It is this button that the user uses most. The primary button usually is employed to select windows, pull down menus, highlight text, move the cursor to a new location with a document, etc.
The other, secondary buttons are typically tied to less commonly used functions. For example, in the case of Windows 95, clicking the second mouse button causes the computer to show a "floating" context-sensitive menu rooted at the location of the pointer. In the case of a mouse having a third mouse button between the first and the second buttons, clicking on this button typically causes the computer to respond as if the first (primary) mouse button has been held down, which is commonly referred to as a "click and drag" function.
So that the importance of the first, primary mouse button over the other button or buttons is accentuated, frequently the primary button is larger than the other buttons. Besides providing a visual cue to a user as to which button to press, oversizing the primary button serves another purpose. Oversizing decreases the potential for the user to accidentally click on a secondary button when the user meant to click on the primary button.
However, this functionality is ameliorated by the fact that the actuation force required for a user to click a secondary button is perceptively identical to the force required to click the primary button. A user, therefore, may accidentally click the wrong button, because the buttons in tactile feel and pressure are not perceptively different to the user. This situation is more pronounced in mouses designed for ergonomic reasons so that the user does not have to use significant force in order to click a button. While low actuation force may be desirable for the primary button, low actuation force for the secondary buttons heightens the potential for accidental actuation.
There is a need, therefore, for a mouse or other pointing device for a computer having differing actuation forces for the switching mechanisms or buttons of the pointing device. There is a further need for such a mouse so that a user may easily distinguish between the primary switching mechanism and the secondary switching mechanism or mechanisms. There is yet a further need for such a mouse so that the potential for a user accidentally clicking a secondary switching mechanism is reduced.